CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is fresh off the best season of his NBA career, and hope springs eternal as he enters the offseason free of injury for the first time since becoming a pro.

In past years, Curry has spent valuable time rehabbing his surgically repaired right ankle instead of working to add elements to his game. He couldn't be more thrilled that this summer won't contain such obstacles.

"It's huge," Curry said Monday at his youth basketball camp, which was held at Charlotte Christian high school, his alma mater. "Mentally, that's the biggest part. You don't have to worry about the rehab. It wears on you every day knowing you have to wake up and do these mundane exercises to get your range of motion back."

Curry started his summer workouts last week and plans to take full advantage of time he has to prepare for training camp in October.

When he returns to the court, Curry will face new pressures that his banner year created. In his fourth NBA season, he led the Warriors to the second round of the playoffs, where they lost in six games to the eventual Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs.

Curry averaged 22.9 points and 6.9 assists in the regular season—both career highs—while leading the Warriors to a 47-35 record and just missing a spot in the All-Star Game. He improved those numbers to 23.4 points and 8.1 assists in his first postseason experience.

After improving his ballhandling and passing since entering the league, the 25-year-old Curry doesn’t have many holes in his game. But at 6-foot-3, he experiences the obvious struggles that come with challenging larger players at the rim.

He plans to address that limitation this offseason by working on a strategy to reach the free-throw line more. Curry, who shot 90 percent from the stripe last year, figures it can only help the team if he draws more fouls.

He said the keys will be to study film and add bulk, which in turn will put him in proper position to be fouled and make him strong enough to endure a beating in the lane.

"That's the biggest thing," Curry said. "In the playoffs I've found your shot can take you a long way but to be able to not let defenders play so tight on you and be able to get those easy points at the free throw line definitely opens the game up for you more, especially in those games where you aren't shooting the ball so well. You still have a way to get easy points if you can get to the line."

Another point of emphasis for Curry will be to keep in touch with his teammates, many of whom are young and have the potential to increase their production next season.

While he acknowledges the offseason can be busy, Curry wants to meet with his teammates for workouts at least twice over the summer. He pointed to the Summer League in Las Vegas as one surefire way to spend time together as a team. The onus falls on co-captains Curry, David Lee and Andrew Bogut to make sure that happens, Curry said.

Curry believes there will be a time when Golden State, which also depends on young players Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson, won’t finish its season in the second round, when it can challenge in the always-tough West. In order for that to come to pass, he knows they have to remain tight-knit and learn as a group.

"Hopefully keep our team together," Curry said. "We have a lot of chemistry this year. Going through that experience in the playoffs that is big to build the foundation going forward, especially with a fairly new coach (Mark Jackson) who has got his taste of being in a suit. Once you have those pieces together, you want to keep them together so when we go through those ups and downs of the season and get our taste of the playoffs again we will know how to advance further."